Should Americans Be Required To Vote Essay

What is more American than voting? This right has been fought for by many groups and people throughout the life of our country. From the people in our history books to the everyday person fighting for their rights, voting has been yearned for by many. However, even with voting being such a big deal, voter turnout is low for America and still there are some Americans who can’t vote. With so much being done throughout the years to get the vote to Americans, we’d expect high voter turnout and everyone being able to vote, but that isn’t true and it needs to change. We should make voting required as turnout will rise, more people would get involved in the government, and more people will be able to vote.

In recent years, society has noticed increasingly minute numbers of voters. Regardless of what is causing people to stay home, it is a big issue. Voting is a right, every citizen is entitled to having a voice in the government. We can choose to vote or we can choose to abstain. This is not an issue, until voting numbers are so low it is hard to even call elections. To help fix this, countries have implemented a system called "Compulsory Voting", or more blatantly put as "Mandatory Voting". This system would require all citizens (capable) to vote. On paper, this seems like a good idea. However, it is a removal of right. To have a right is to have an option. We as citizens have the right to almost anything we want. The Constitution gives us options. You wouldn't say we have the right to pay taxes. We are required to pay taxes. Obligations are not considered rights. Making the right to vote mandatory would be removing one keyword. RIGHT.

I believe that American citizens should be required to vote in national elections. Jury duty is mandatory so why isn't voting? (“Telling Americans to vote, or else”1).

Compulsory voting as defined by Merriam Webster is "a system in which electors are obligated to vote in elections, or be subject to punitive measures such as fines or community service if violated." It is a system of voting that has been implemented successfully in over 30 countries, and has seen the increase in voting turnout on average of 20%. When compulsory voting was abandoned turnout after a period of mandatory voting, voting dropped on average 25%. This is an issue that can shape the future of democratic nations, for the actions that governments make are reliant upon those who enter into office, due to the ballot of the people. Therefore, in a democracy, voting ought to be compulsory.

America’s most recent debate focuses on mandatory voting and if it should be enforced in The Unites States. Of course many people have their doubts about this subject while others have already picked a side. Compulsory voting or “mandatory voting” is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines or community service. But surely this subject is much more than just receiving votes for future elections; just like any other subject it must have its pros and its cons.

Another reason why Americans shouldn't be required to vote is, there will be people who will refuse to vote for various reasons. They might be unbiased in their decision as to who is running for Congress or office. Several citizens will believe their rights are being taken away and they'll be resentful and form disturbances. Forcing residents to vote will only bring more chaos to an already chaotic country. Others will feel as if their first amendment is being taken away and their freedom of speech will no longer be

In “Race and Beyond: Why Young, Minority, and Low-Income Citizens Don’t Vote,” Sam Fulwood claims, “Regardless of whether a favored candidate won or popular ballot initiative passed, our nation suffered because of the number of people who didn’t vote at all” (par. 2). I agree with Sam Fulwood and I believe it is so unfortunate that Americans don’t use this right. Voting is one of the most valuable possessions that Americans are given and yet they do not use. Many of the countries around the world do not grant voting rights to their citizens. These countries either have a dictatorship or kingdom which prevents citizens from voting. People need to understand the sufferings of those people who struggled for this right. When the United States

For the longest time jury duty and other similar institutions have been mandatory, however, voting is not required by the United States federal government. This raises another question. Is forcing people to vote constitutional at all? Could such a law exist in an individualistic and liberal country? The power to choose is what separates the United States from many other countries. The average citizen gets to decide how they live their lives. These values are found in the very principles created by the founding fathers. Voting is not something that should be forced. Also, there are times when voting isn’t as easy as one might think. There are many factors that could prevent a person from voting such as illness, their economic situation, or their level of education. All of these factors could lead to an absence of voting. What people and those who want to instate mandatory voting need to understand is that they have the power to decide who the next president will be. They shouldn't become upset when the person they favored the least becomes president. They could have done something about it but instead chose to do nothing.

Mandatory voting would greatly benefit our democracy. “Requiring people to vote in national elections once every two years would reinforce the principle of reciprocity at the heart of citizenship.” (Text 1, Lines 22-24) If this would go forward, our democracy would be a true and inclusive by making people vote for what they believe in. Citizens that vote, no matter their status, would make the United States a truly democratic

Some countries manufacture incentives by imposing fines on those eligible voters who do not show up at the polls. Most Americans would consider an imposition of this sort extremely undemocratic. If such a thing were attempted in America, I believe that we would see the highest levels of turnout ever in an election, but only long enough to vote that proposition down, and exercise the power of recall on every elected official that supported it in the first place!

To be considered a citizen of the United States of America, one must be born in the United States, or have gained citizenship through naturalization. Citizens of the United States are granted rights, which are very important because not all countries have a Constitution or a Bill of Rights to protect them when they voice their opinions and beliefs - things Americans do every day without even a thought. These privileges are laid out in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and it is possible that these rights can be taken away. Some of these rights include: Freedom of Religion, Fair Trial by Jury, the right to Bear Arms, the right to run for federal office, and the right to vote in federal elections. Some Americans take these rights for granted,

One of the main benefits of mandatory voting is that the government ensures every citizen will pay more attention to the candidates and in election date, they will have a solid number of votes. These will not leave room for errors and many conspiracies like we seen in this past election with President Trump and Hillary Clinton. On the contrary, mandatory voting will not do any good if individuals will go out and vote

Although there have been in the passed many restrictions on voting to different groups of American, today voting in the United States is a universally right to citizens. However, many citizens are not taking this privilege and are not casting a vote. Throughout this paper we explore the requirements that were dismantle as well as the reasons as to why American citizens are not voting in the present day. Some of the reasons why Americans do not vote are due to inequalities in income, education, age, voter ID, and plenty of other reasons. If our founding father’s decided for our country to become a democratic republic and other groups had fought for the rights that we have today, Americans should educated themselves on how to vote and make sacrifices

All resident have the right to vote, yet numerous individuals do not take part in an election. At hand, there are numerous reasons why these citizens might not vote: a lack of understanding for political concerns, more engaged with daily life, a shortage of confidence in our government, laziness, or the contentment with the way things are. Nevertheless, when citizens struggle consequently to get a just and equal voting rights for all, it should be a legal obligation that every single United State resident turns out on Election Day to votes. Not taking the time to vote when having that right remains discourteous and disrespects to the men and women who have struggled for the right to vote .For the reason not to vote is to not value the part

According to Compulsory Voting Can Increase Political Inequality:Evidence From Brazil by Gabriel Cepaluni from São Paulo State University and F. Daniel Hidalgo from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with compulsory voting the voter turnout from lower education to higher education made the higher education turnout rate increased more than the lower education turnout rate making the representation unequal between the lower class then the higher education. This is probably to the fact that the lower education people tend to have lower income job and use less of the rights so when they don’t vote they don’t feel the effect that much making only the upper and middle class feel the consequence of not voting therefore they do not feel motivated to vote. The government want equal representation that is why they what to have mandatory voting but in truth that will make the representation more unequal than